Revision as of 23:16, 14 August 2014

Knowing an ancestor’s occupation can help you distinguish him or her from other individuals with the same name. The records associated with your ancestor’s occupation could provide information about his or her life and family. Some occupations are more likely to have records about the people in those occupations than others. There are many records of people in trades, such as bootmakers and tailors.

What was my ancestor's occupation?

If you know:

the person's name

the geographical area where they worked

a date range to focus your search

then there are several useful places to start searching for your ancestor's occupation:

Census records. The decennial census recorded the occupation of those enumerated. From 1851 trades could be listed in the census in order of importance if a person had more than one source of income. For more information on using census records, see: England Census.

Vital Records. Parish records of baptisms and marriages usually record the occupation of the father of the child in the case of a baptism and the occupations of the parties and their fathers in the case of a marriage. Parish records of burials less often record the occupation of the deceased. Civil registration of births, deaths and marriages will contain the occupation of the father in the case of a birth, the deceased in the case of a death (sometimes also that of the father) and, in respect of marriages, the occupations of the parties and their fathers. For more information on using these records, see: England Vital Records.

Directories. From the 18th century, variously styled publications began being produced which contained alphabetical lists of persons, their trades and addresses. In the 1840s, street directories began to appear which included among its listings the occupation of the householder. Post Office officials began publishing their local Post Office Directory. For more guidance on using trade and other directories, see: Directories in England and Wales.

The Oxford English Dictionary is the definitive source for occupation definitions. Of great value to the family historian, it also provides time periods when occupational terms were in use. RootsWeb has a general list.

Occupational Training

To learn a trade, an individual had to be apprenticed. Records were usually created of the agreement between the master (the one doing the teaching) and the person (father, guardian) or the organization (parish) placing the apprentice.

A child could be apprenticed by his father or by the parish council if the child was an orphan or a pauper. A person was apprenticed between the ages of 7 and 18 years. An indenture was a legal agreement that bound the apprentice to serve a number of years, usually 7. Indentures usually contain the names of the apprentice and the master, the master’s trade and residence, the terms of apprenticeship, and sometimes the name, occupation, and residence of the apprentice’s father.

After learning the trade, the apprentice became a journeyman. A journeyman was an employee who received wages.

Master was the level after journeyman. A master was the most skilled craftsman.

Apprenticeship Tax

Between 1710 and 1811 a tax was assessed on the masters of the many who were apprenticed. For more information about these tax records, see the Taxation topic page.

Apprenticeship books of Great Britain: Inland Revenue, town registers, Oct. 1711-Jan. 1811 and country registers, May 1710-Sept. 1808; and indexes to apprentices, 1710-1774 and indexes to masters, 1710-1762 See the following:

Alternatively, these records are on microfilm at The Family History Library FHL microfilm]

Guilds

Often the craftsmen of the same trade banded together to regulate trade and protect their members’ interests. The organization they formed was a guild. Those belonging to the guild were given special privileges, such as voting, and were called freemen. In a city a freeman was also called a citizen. In a town or rural area, he was called a burgess.

The city livery companies developed from the craft guilds of the 12th to the 15th centuries. The word livery originally referred to the distinctive uniform granted to each company. It now also denotes a company’s collective membership.

Guild records contain lists of members, information on journeymen practicing in the town, and advancements from the rank of apprentice to journeyman and from journeyman to master. Contracts between masters and parents of apprentices may also be included.

Freemen records are more useful than apprenticeship records because they usually give ages, birthplaces, parentage, and occupations.

Trades' Records

Guild records are usually among city or borough records or in the possession of the modern guild. Many are in London at the Guildhall Library. Chapter 14 in the following book explains guild records:

London Guild Records Indexes Online

British Origins has an index of just under 500,000 names a this link for London Apprentices 1442-1850 (£) from indexes created by Cliff Webb.

The Family History Library Indexes and Records of London

The London Livery Company Apprenticeship Registers are in book form and indexes [1]]

The Family History Library has a good collection of books on the histories of occupations and guilds. The Family History Library has a very good collection of the London Guild Records on microfilm. [2]]

Professionals

In early use, the term "profession" was limited to the law, the established Church, and medicine (these three often called the "learned professions") and sometimes extended to the military profession. Training was undertaken, not through apprenticeship, but at schools, colleges and universities, although the solicitors' branch of the law was subject to a special form of apprenticeship called 'articles' undertaken by articled clerks.

Members of the did not join guilds; they had their own associations, disciplinary bodies and publications. For details see:

Government employees and officeholders

Records of persons employed in various occupations by the government have survived in various archives. They are usually organised by employer rather than occupation. Details of officeholders have also been complied.